bits herald post quark 2012 issue

8/3/2019 BITS Herald Post Quark 2012 Issue

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bits-herald-post-quark-2012-issue 1/18

- :_";It ----. -

" '~~'~·e·p~~_tm_e_nt Of Journalism And M,edia Affairs _ .:~.

#BITSTip46The coole st w inds, most please Ilt

sunshine and most pi(itUiresque

ev en in gs- a~1come only d ay s b efo re

Ex.ams



Credits

Satya Prakas h Das h

Abhijit JoshiV ipul P andey

Anmol S rivastava

N amrata N adkarni

[REDIIS

R adhika P arik

V aibhav B ajaj

F rancis James

A kshay V ikas

Renuka Pai

A bhijith A sok

Pranshu G upta

S ak shi P ratap

Sushant K umarAn ja li S rivastava

A nkit Sharm a

V ishakha G upta

A nshul Jain

Prasoon M ehta

C hantal D eSouza

Mohana Bhattacharya

Sanjuk ta K rishnagopal

Seerat B indra

B havul G auriN ikhil Khadilk ar

Deepankar Sharma

Special Thanks To Sanchit M ehta

.---------------------------.Department O f Journalism And M edia A ffairs

. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "

2



Challenge Compete Evolve

C h a l l e n g e . C o m p e t e . E v o lv e . B u t d id w e ?

About one year ago, DoJMA had published its first ever Post-festival issue, featuring an incisive review of the

then-concluded Quark 20 I I. The reasons for the mass disappointment with the festival were simple; the bizarreinauguration, total lack of any enthusiasm in BITSians vis-a-vis any participation, inept management, lack of

informals and of all ill-luck to plague a tech-fest, India Fest was held at the same time which drew away a massive

chunk of the BITSianaudience. Following this debacle, there was a grave responsibility upon Quark 20 12 to bring

back the technical zest within the campus. Question is, did it?

A BITSian survey indicates that most of us (approximately three quarters) believe that Quark 2012 was a

significant improvement over its predecessor; however, the survey indicates that Quark has quite a way to travel

if it wants to be ranked in the same league as, say, liT Madras Shastra or liT Bombay Techfest. Comparing with

Quark 20 I I, this edition of Quark did see more than twice the number of participants than last time. Though the

events this time saw better participation, over 77% of those surveyed believed that there is no such thing as too

many events during the festival (though 50% of them didn't take part in any event/workshop themselves). The

workshops, usually panned, received an overall rating of 'average' by around a third of the people surveyed, withjust 3% calling the workshops 'awesome'. Interestingly, more than two-thirds feel that most of the workshops

were over-priced, considering what they had to offer.

Guest Lectures were touted to be a big improvement in this

version of Quark. They received a slightly above-average rating

from those polled, about a third giving it a rating of 5 or 6 out

of 10. More needs to be done to promote the Green

Technologies front on the campus, with most people either

pointing out at 'lack of publicity' (30%) or claiming the

conference clashed with 'more interesting events' (3 1%).

Clearly indicates the fact that there must be a better schedulingsystem in place for the whole festival, as evidenced by almost

half of the pollsters who weren't pleased with clashing events

and last-minute changes in lecture timings and venues.

e v o L U T rO N A R Y • • •

~la;~ ?_ . 1 _ . ~la;k

• •

Quark2012'\Analysis .)

I

The nites this Quark saw the presence of truly professional performers for the first time, and without any charge

on the students at that. The opening night probably witnessed one of the best of the mime performances ever,

though the Dance Club only managed to eke out an amused response from the auditorium. The rest of the nites

varied in their popularity; Arvind Jayshankar claimed a decent rating (3 or 4 out of 5) from about half the polling

audience, Faridkot got themselves unanimously panned, with two-thirds calling it as 'pathetic' or below average,

and the 3-D mapping and fireworks evoked an enthusiastic response (60% calling it either above average or

'awesome').

It would be unfair of us to ask people's opinion on so many matters about Quark and leave out asking about how

we, DoJMA, ourselves performed during the festival. Our flagship magazine, the BITSHerald Quark Issue, printed

out in glossy glory, didn't exactly live up to our own expectations, with the weighted rating being around 6/ IO .

Perhaps more innovation needs to brought into the content rather than just having a superb design.

So, at the end of the 7th edition of our technical festival, the question to be asked is whether Quark (all the

editions, not just 2012) has really managed to bring out and showcase technical aptitude among our students,

given that we are, after all, an engineering college? Though above 50% of our poll audiences did feel that Quark

2012 was 'adequately technical', a worrying 81% felt that enough was not being done on campus to promote

technical activities on campus, leave aside only a technical festival. It must be said that most of the questions asked

above and their replies should not be allowed to cloud or put into question all the hard work done by the Quark

Co-ordination committee - after all, they can only make opportunities available to us; it is left to us BITSians tocome out of our usual 'lite' mode and avail ourselves of these chances. Time for a reality check, perhaps?

3



LDAP Blues, Hostel Nomenclature

LDAP Blues

Last semester saw the establishment of the new 100 MBps line, a change touted as a new beginning for all

sorts of pointless surfing on campus, but alas, even that fell short of everyone's requirements and

expectations. Two reasons had been given for the situation then, one obviously being the huge number of

leechers and illegal downloaders on campus, with certain individuals downloading close to 60GB on one IP

on a daily basis. Second being the fact that, for reasons unknown to all those responsible, the entire 100

MBps bandwidth was not being used in its entirety.

Thus came the entry of the LDAP system, one which allows for the authorities to keep tabs on the usage of

every resident via their BITSmail ids, an outcome of which is the unblocking of facebook. Again, however,

not everyone is happy, with more than 50% of the campus claiming to have issues with the new system.Recent weeks have shown a considerable decline in net speeds, as well as the total absence of services in

some portions of the campus. Authorities however, refuse to attribute these new issues to the LDAP system,

claiming that the cause for the problems is totally unrelated.

There is the chance of, in the not so near future, shifting to a 1 GBps line. This would obviously put an end

to all the blocked sites and download limits. However, if the issues of faulty distribution aren't sorted out,

even that won't be able to sustain the demands of this net-hungry campus.

For now, those in-charge inform us that there will soon be a Google form put up on DC,the responses to

which would determine whether we stick to this system or revert to the old system in which facebook was

blocked.

--------------------------Hostels' NevvNomenclature

The fact that hostel names will undergo a shift from the

alpha-numeric nomenclature to the model followed in the

Pilani campus was received with an initial indignation that has ,_-------".

now faded into quiet resignation. The CSA Gen Sec reveals Bose Bhavan

that this has been on the CSA Agenda since the IfIIR.IJ-----__" ....m??? Seriously,

commencement of their tenure. The names were shortlisted by

the Institute Director from a database of suggestions from BITS

Goa alumni. And for those who suspect foul play in the

allotment of the new names, the authorities (all the wiser forcertain past experiences with a campus outraged) were wise

enough to draw lots from the fourteen selected names.

While names like 'Gandhi' and 'Einstein' were predictable

choices; the unintended, but hilariously apt cult reference in

naming a certain C-wing second year hostel 'Bose' has been a

source of amusement for many. Rumour has it the news ..... __

triggered an angry rant on many a Hostel Google Group, with

one girl's hostel rooting for a change to 'Annie Hall'-their sole

fear being that the absence of cinematic connoisseurs in the

administration leading to their beloved hostel being hailed as

'Annie Bhavan'. It is still uncertain whether the new names willbe appended with 'Bhavan' or 'House'.

4



I felt the silence

I FELT TH E SI LENCE ...

B ITS H ERALD

"God made art. We silenced it."(Pun intended}. This is how I would call my life with a group of innovativeenthusiasts in campus, known as the Mime Club.

Starting out as a small community back in 2006, the club was the result of the random thought processesof a group of individuals who decided that they would do something worthwhile for the GaneshChathurthi celebrations here on campus. The announcement of the new club took place along with thefirst performance of the club, titled 'Doctors', with just one scene, where four doctors hilariously try to bringa fainted patient back to his senses. The performance created incredible response then and there, andpeople were lined up to be in the club.

Mime Club has evolved continuously ever since. The 'Idiot box vl.0' and 'v2.0', 'Paperbot and Supermario','U,Me and UV', 'S.H.I.T', 'Retro Gaming' and 'A 1 News' are some of the memorable performances by the club.The club developed from the times of face painting, single music track, no slides and full stage-lights to theperiod of bare faces, multiple tracks, slide projections and controlled lighting. Conventional mime grewinto Skime, a UV mime and finally, shadow art.

1/

God Made Art. ....II

We Silenced It-,

The hunt for a theme for the Quark mime started in earlyJanuary. It wasn't until few days later, that the 'Follow yourHeart' theme evolved. The credit goes to Aayush Surana, of the2008 batch, who is responsible for some of the club's bestscenes on-stage, over time. However, the when we decided toattempt the shadow mime, we were unaware about executionand how it would look to the audience. Slowly a story starteddeveloping after many brainstorming sessions, and as soon aswe had two or three scenes in hand, we moved to theauditorium for practice, rather than waiting for the week beforethe performance, as it usually happens in most of theperformances.

Six hours of practice after Spm on working days and almost twelve hours of practice on holidays - that wasa daily chore for the entire club for almost an entire month. The story developed parallel to the practice. Itwas a very risky attempt, but it was decided that we would take it. As the story progressed, new sceneswere added, existing scenes were improved and the use of projector effects started. The frame for theshadows was one of the biggest problems, as the initial frame which was used was very frail and weak,which actually broke at one point of time. While just a few days were left for the performance, we had tocreate a new frame, and that was done using aluminum bars stretched out on top of light stands, withhooks coming down from the top of the stage to hold the bars up. It took a lot of work to get it set, withpeople actually going to the top of the stage, in between the frames, and staying there during theperformance (special mention- Saketh Katikaneni and Aswin V Chandran). But, ultimately the new frameturned out to be a lot better than the previous one. Tomy Cherian, who handled the lights, Gurdeep Singhand Anuj Kohli, who handled the slides, Charly Paul, who did the music and Sai Phaltankar, who addedeffects to the slides deserve special recognition for their dedication behind the scenes.

The judgement day came. We invoked optimism in our mind, in spite of the growing fear of the riskinvolved in the performance. One mistake from anyone, and the entire charm of the mime would be lost.But, we gave it our best shot. The applauses during the performance are what gave us momentum andbuilt our confidence. A little above fifteen minutes and we were done. The ambience was overwhelming.The entire audi including the chief guest, was standing up in appreciation. The bow we gave the audiencethat day was the one which came from the deepest reaches of our heart. Our hard work had paid off.

It was a wonderful feeling when everyone was talking about how this was our best performance till date.We also got news that Babasaheb Kalyani, the chief guest had asked for the video of the mime to be sentto him, before he left and that Ravi Kuchimanchi, the GCON speaker who was the inspiration for the movie'Swades', was awestruck and said that he had never seen anything like the mime we put up. The studentsof BITSGoa have always been our biggest inspiration to strive harder to create better performances. Theenergy which the audience passes on to us during every performance is what drives us to work towards

improving ourselves the next time. Each and every mime we put up on stage is the result of teamwork andconsideration for others inside the club. We will try our best never to disappoint our audiences and to fulfillwhat is expected of us. Ending on a bright note, 'THAT'S ALL FOLKS".

5



H A P T IC R O B O T IC A R M , IC E N G IN E W O R K S H O P , P R A B H U C H A W L A

HAPTIC ROBOTIC ARM

Quark 2012 bid to interlace human

interactions and technology, with itsHaptic Robotic Arm workshop. The

workshop drew a good number of

constructive feedbacks, and it witnessed

decent participation; both on campus

and outstation. The classand experience

of the trainers seemed to satisfy most,

while the rest were thrilled with the

exclusive knowledge attained on this

enthralling subject. Priced at Rs.6400/-

for a team of four, most found it to be

worth the cash. The workshop has leftorganizers a lead to hang on to, for

sessions on robotics and advanced

Hapticswill certainly havemany takers in

future. Although some did whine about

their assembled arm not matching the

entrancing picture conjured by the

website and posters,the workshop could

be largely categorized a success.One of

best Quark 2012 offered.

)p~~6>---.........<

_____________ 1

1 IC ENGINE WORKSHOP1IC Engine Workshop added weight to the

1 speckled list of workshops this Quark.1 However it failed to catch many a BITSian

1 eyeasmost registrations were off-campus.

Theworkshop had a rocky take off; and like

1 most of the events this Quark, it didn't start

1 on time. It picked up pace after that and

the remainder of the sessions progressed

1 smoothly as the participants began

1 dissembling, exploring and re-assembling

1 the given 2 stroke engines. The three days

of the workshop saw a good number of

1 mechanical enthusiasts, comprehending1 complex mechanisms; absorbing the aura

of engines and gears. A minor glitch

I observed by some was the inappropriateI grouping together of participants of all

levels, making it difficult to bring

I uniformity to the session. Priced at

1 reasonable Rs.4000/- for a team of 4, it did

1 not provide takeaway kits. Though it

brought a lot to the table, it failed to

1 deliver the decisive punch, leaving behind

1 a shadowy smudge on Quark 2012.

-------------1

1

1

1

1

1

1

PRABHU CHAWLA

In spite of the communication gap due to no massmessagescirculating around the campus,

(which, let's look on the bright side, saved our pockets from vibrating and beeping every 2

seconds)the assemblage in the auditorium wouldn't havediffered much, even if the publicity

had been through a popular Chennai-based newspaper. And though empty seats left by the

disinterested faculty were soon warmed by those who travelled from afarjust to witness the

great that often visited our campus, most present was of the opinion that it was 'time well

spent'. Current affairs, the 2Gscam,Mayawati and even the interactive sessionswere wittily

countered. Cynicism, mimicry and the stand-up comedy facade that he took lead the crowd

to extol the editor/ journalist/ host/ entertainer hewas.However, there were a few who felt itlacked charm, despite the massappeal. While it was a hit for many, it did turn out to be an

event worth missing for some.

6



FaceBlocked

O ff Campus news

FaceBlocked

The first instance of internet censorship in India came in 1999, during the Kargil war, when VSNL

blocked access to the Pakistani news website, Dawn. Ever since, there has been a spate of such

instances, and domains including typepad, blogspot and geocities have been blocked, albeit for a

brief period of time (often owing to implementation difficulties in shutting down just a few pages

hosted on these domains).

The recent court cases against 22 companies including Facebook, Google and Yahoo has made at-

tempts at internet censorship blase in a country where free speech and democratic rights set it

apart from the likes of China in the age of the Asian giants. There are currently two cases pending

against these companies- one accusing the companies offailing to remove content that mock reli-

gious sentiments and public figures, and the other pulling them up for not having a real-time

system for screening of content.Controversy first erupted when it was reported that Kapil Sibal had held a series of meetings with

representatives of these companies to discuss content screening. According to Heather Timmons

in the New York Times,

'At the meeting, Mr. Sibal showed attendees a Facebook page that maligned the Cogress

Party's president, Sonia Gandhi. "This is unacceptable," he told attendees, the executive

said, and he asked them to find a way to monitor what is posted on their sites. In the

second meeting with the same executives in late November, Mr. Sibal told them that he

expected them to use human beings to screen content, not technology, the executive

said.'

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology doesn't seem to realise that it is

downright impossible to manually monitor net content without significant expenditure consider-

ing the amount of user generated content on the web. Moreover, not hurting sentiments of various

communities doesn't seem to be the sole motive. Google, in its transparency report, states:

'We received requests from state and local law enforcement agencies to remove YouTube

videos that displayed protests against social leaders or used offensive language in

reference to religious leaders. We declined the majority of these requests and only locally

restricted videos that appeared to violate local laws prohibiting speech that could incite

enmity between communities. In addition, we received a request from a local law

enforcement agency to remove 236 communities and profiles from orkut that werecritical of a local politician. We did not comply with this request, since the content did not

violate our Community Standards or local law.'

The veritable outcry was intensified when a Delhi High Court judge said that India could adopt a

censorship system similar to the Great Firewall of China.

The case is indicative of the immaturity of India's judiciary as well as its politicians. While there is a

need to ensure communal harmony, the government cannot establish an organisation that be-

comes the sole judge of what constitutes 'objectionable' and takes suo moto control of a medium

such as the internet. Time and again, such organisations have been a facade for government opera-tives trying to suppress information detrimental to their image.

7



FaceBlocked, 3D Mapping

Companies such as Facebook and Google have

already established protocols for dealing with

objectionable content. Clearly, it is people who

spread abhorrent messages who should be held

accountable. In the UK, two people convicted for

trying to incite violence during the London riots

last year through their facebook pages were

sentenced to four years in prison. Courts cannot

hold websites responsible for the acts of

unscrupulous users as long as they promptly act on

complaints received, which is in stark contrast to

what the Indian judiciary seems to be doing. In

recent times, social networking sites have been

catalysts for change- ending dictatorial regimes in

Egypt and Libya. The death of the right to freespeech is the death of democracy- an ideal the

citizens of India hold too close to their hearts to

forego.

---------------------------3D Mapping

Spamming the India Gate 30 Mapping video on OC

was a truly discerning idea by the Quark Controls

Team. And thus, the trending started. OreamPoint

Animation carefully assessed the site and over the

course of 5 days, prepared what we today remember

as the resplendent concluding moments of Quark

2012. It was the first of its kind to be shown in a

college. It was delayed a bit, which got the fired up

crowd edgy and the critics on their feet, with the

blame falling on the Music Night performance which

overshot its time and got prolonged well past

11.30pm. The same technical power chords were to

be used for both the events for the sound system. And

why no OJ night this time in spite of OJ Rink being

confirmed and eagerly awaited? It was the CSA's

decision, the true reasons for which aren't clear. A few

seconds prior to the finale, fireworks were shot up in

the air. (That explains the fire engine outside the

campus) Not initially meant to be clubbed together

with the breaking and subsequent re-formation of the

Institute building, they were thoroughly fancied

anyway. The show was commendable, but was it

really worth the wait? You be the judge.

8



Paper Presentation, Burnout, Robocombat

HITS

PAPER PRESEnTATiOn

Despite being a low-key event with a chiefly

erudite appeal,Paper Presentation surprised

us all by meeting the stringent 'Hit'

standards of this publication. Close to 40

outstation participants presented their

papers, with an overwhelming response inthe Mechanical category -for which 8judges

from different Mechanical backgrounds

were invited. The prize-winning paper was

an analysis of the successstory of Dubai. The

organizers reveal that the judges were

unhappy with the lack of original research

and instances of plagiarism seen in several

entries. Both the participants and

organizers were disappointed with the

far-from-generous distribution of goodies

promised to the event attracting maximum

participation.

- - - - - ---------This year saw Robokombat introduce

pneumatic and hydraulic weapons; also theweight limit for the bots was increased from

the previous years' 7-8 kg to a whooping 25

kg for the wired and 30 kg for the wireless

bots, taking the event to a whole new level.

The surprise element of adding fire and

removing an extra panel from the arena,

made the final round even more

challenging and added the extra adrenaline

rush in the event.

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

II

I

I

10 out of the 30 teams in Burnout were

on-campus participants, a pleasant surprise

for the organizers who feel the lack of

exposure coupled with the expensive

equipment is responsible for the lukewarm

response of BITSians to technical events.

The decent participation levels, impressive

performances and the presence of a large

audience rendered the event a success. We

are told Controls provided the event with a

mere 15 tyres, with the organisers

scavenging the entire state for the

remaining 120 required for a respectable

track. Hobby Centre also sponsored the

event, going out of their way by helping the

Burnout team layout the track and fix the

I cars.

- - - ------- - - -R

oBK

DO

M

BA

T

9



Quark Open Quiz, Informals, Open Showcase

qUARK OPEn qUIz

Hosted by Rajiv D'silva, TATA Crucible

winner, the Quark open quiz saw

tremendous participation with a nearly full

lecture theatre. The new format of the quiz

spanning technology, business and

science, consisted of 26 questions in the

preliminary round with interconnected

answers. Members of the Sunday Evening

Quiz Club (SEQC)walked away with the top

honours. BITSianteams filled up the next

three spots, with two of them tied atsecond place. ~

_

I

I

I_ _I

I

-I

_ _ _ _ _

OPEn 5HOW[ASE

Open Showcase witnessed overwhelming

participation levels, with 25 teams from

each category (CS, EEE, Mechanical and

Chemical). Baba Kalyani mentioned the

impressive quality of projects showcased inthe event in his Inaugural address, of which

the Smart Glove and Wheelchair running

on head simulation deserve special

mention. Mahindra short-listed 3 teams

who received 3 lakh INRto kick off their

projects. However, the organizers feel the

event could have attracted more

off-campus talent, had Quark carried more

credibility in terms of actually distributingcash prizes to event winners.

InFoRmAlS

I

I

I

I

I

I

I~

I

I

I

I

I

I

With the clumsy sumo suits, the

perpetually crowded Play stations

featuring Mortal Kombat vis DC universe,

the Rubik Cube workshop in the library

lawns, the flight simulator, the colour

detector based angry birds, the Xboxes

and the planetarium in the CWing balcony,

the Informals proved to be the biggest

crowd puller this Quark. In fact the

organisers capitalized on the success of the

Informals to get much-needed attendanceat a guest-lecture by Vikrant Bhargava by

making it mandatory to attend the lecture

in order to use the Play Station.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ " ,

10



MISSES

Miss...55...esQuark surely had some inconspicuous fiascos, some aroused melancholy in the crowd.

While some "crowd pulling activities" just became a crowd spectacle, others simply failed

to see what crowds look like. Vacant seats at some of the events, competitions and lec-

tures, with a few spectators(looking like science model showing a small electron in a large

atom) did leave the people in charge abashed.I

Ii~an

. . .

At the onset, BITS G-Con T-shirts arrived

with a subtly incomplete logo with the

event itself lacking lustre. G-Con, the

much publicized environmental confer-

ence' turned out to be a snooze fest.

Though there were no major issues in the

running of the event, the organizers must

accept some amount of the blame for fail-

ing to keep the interest levels up. Empty

seats and sleepy heads were a common

sighting in the auditorium during this par-

ticular event.

_ . - - - - - - - - - - - - - -LASER TAli

The Laser Tag situation was extremely un-

fortunate. With everything in place to or-

ganize it, the guns themselves could not

make it to our campus. The suppliers had

apparently not realized that they would

need a permit, and they were sent back at

the Goa hArrl~r <;l-A-~r <;l cf'r<;l1'Ylhl~ with theLlV..L\"..I.\o.I..L "..LL""..1. '"" lJ\".I..Lf...l,..L..L..LL/..L\".I

police.

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

II

I

I

I

In the guest lecturers vertical, unfortunately

the much awaited and symbolic, Shantanu

Moitra turned out to be a no show at the very

last moments, as he contracted pneumonia

(an apology letter too was conveyed). This

was quite a setback for crowds zeroing all

their aspirations to listen to his marvellousworks. Considering the others, the guest lec-

turers weren't flocked upon by the "many"

people as anticipated, despite being en-

grossing for the interested. A share of the

blame could be throbbed on the poor public-

ity for the events (mostly being last

moment) and lectures (ones that weren't

much shouted about).Gazing through the

others, it was quite inexplicable as to whywe didn't have even a classroom full of

people listening, even after variety oflectur-

ers. All this summed up to the shifting of

venues at the last moment by the organizers,

from auditorium to LT' s and rooms for the

guest lectures, which adding to their

dismay, even then couldn't get the rooms

filled.

11



Misses

--------------

BITsmUN

BITSMUNsuffered the same fate as G-con.

Asan event, it too turned out to be a showon a smooth but quiet run. The General

Assembly had to be dissolved on Day 2,

owing to the lack of turnout. Organizers of

BITSMUNthough, claim to be happy with

the response that they got, since the

registration amount had been collected

from all interested participants well in

advance.

B I T S M U N G A

The Faridkot mess up was almost ascomical as it was infuriating. It all started

with one microphone going off

inexplicably. Soon, it turned into a full

blown disaster, as somehow the entire

sound system failed, culminating in the

band members walking off stage, and

leaving the audience frustrated and

waiting endlessly without explanation.

---------- .. _ -I

I

I musIc NIGHTI

IMusic night, designed to be a grand

I closing to Quark 2012, failed to live up toI expectations. Fearing yet another debacle

I (see Faridkot), a sound engineer had been

I called well in advance to ensure that

I everything runs smoothly. Still, the sound

I problems persisted, and Backstage, to

I their credit, did a good job minimizing the

I damage. Also, Shantanu Moitra's then

I unknown and mysterious absence

dampened people's spirits and made it alow-key event.

I

I

I

I

I

12



Exhibitions

EXHIBITIONS

'It hardly feels like a technical festival', observed the HEMRL(High Energy Materials Research Lab) techie

as he scanned the exhibition area completely devoid of any interested audience. Whenever their labhad been to IITs and NITs, he said, there were throngs of excited crowds ogling tank shells and missile

propellants on display. He probably had a point, considering that HEMRL and ARDE (Armament

Research and Development Establishment), both elite DRDO labs, saw extremely meager attendance

during 2 days of the festival. The HEMRLtechies was particularly seething; one of them said, "We were

told that 19 DRDO labs had pitched their tent here during the previous editions - and now look at this-

only 2 labs, and next-to-zero enthusiasm from the crowds." They then proceeded to ask about the

fastest way to Majorda beach.

However, was it only due to the non-existent audience that the exhibitions turned out to be a dull affair?

Truth be told, the exhibitors have to take some part of the blame. The ARDE 'arena' had only a single,

scaled-down exhibit, along with a host of self-glorifying posters that gave the audience onlyhorrendously difficult abbreviations and zero intelligible information. The people manning the counter

seemed disinterested at best. Most people gave GridBots a passing glance; though the miniature

models exhibit received a few admiring looks. The HEMRLarena had a tank model (vintage T-72), a few

shell casings and loads of cramped charts; though it must be said that both the techies on duty did an

absolutely splendid job of explaining whatever little exhibits they had on display.

In light of all this, it was the Naval Aviation and Armament Depot displays that saved the exhibitions

scenario. The Navy had come out with a formidable array of their detection equipment (SONAR) and

lethal missiles and bombs, with a Sea Harrier jet engine thrown in for good measure. More than these

weapons though, it was the sheer quality of the officers manning the displays that made this a

comparatively successful exhibition. Extremely helpful, courteous and amazingly well-informed, they

patiently explained every aspect of each weapon system they had tagged along, often holding long,

informative impromptu sessions with the audience about all possible aspects of the Navy. Gentlemen

that they were, they refused to comment on the number of visitors to their stall, though they did admit

they would have liked it to be a bit higher than it was.

The only time one could get any reaction from them was when it was suggested that there had been

plans from our side of bringing in an actual Sea Harrier fighter jet from the Sea Harrier museum over at

INS Hansa. Amused by the prospect (though one officer looked mortified and two others looked

shocked), they explained that since the specimen in question was fragile, the chances of the curator

agreeing to the plan were remote. Furthermore, the loading/unloading would requisition a lot of

manpower, something that the naval higher-ups were sure to sit on.

_ . - - - - - - - - - - - - -

13



TEDxBITSGoa

TEDxBITSGoaAt the independently organized TEDxBitsGoa event, held in the auditorium on 12th February, an assorted

platter of speakers from a broad horizon of expertise brought out stories that have made a difference to their

lives and that of others around them.

The event witnessed a high count of corporate attendees, both from Goa and other states. The speaker list

consisted of personalities such as ex-IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Lt. General (retd.) Vijay Oberoi, photographer

Roycin D'souza, Partho Bhowmick of the 'Blind with camera' fame, outdoor explorer Peter Van Geit, ex convict

turned reformer Laxman Gole, President of Indian Development Foundation Dr.A.R.K. Pillai,

traveller-musician Dr. Benny Prasad, tiger conservationist Belinda Wright, Anirudh Sharma (who designed a

navigating shoe for the blind) and self proclaimed idiot and stand-up comic Ashish Shakya. The TedX team

decided to take a speaker profile approach rather than a speaker fame-quotient approach.

EDXBITSGoax = independently organized TED event

The event was divided into three segments, with the main attraction of the first segment being the much

awaited Laxman Gole, who became the first-ever TED speaker to talk in Hindi. He charmed his way into the

hearts of the crowd with his innocuous demeanour and carefree approach towards the Indian judiciary. Post

lunch, the comedian Ashish Shakya was a welcome change from the sombre ambience that had gripped the

auditorium. He had the audience in splits with his digs at the politicians, Baba Ramdev, girls in engineering

colleges and what not.

The last segment saw Benny Prasad and Kiran Bedi take to the stage. The magnificent Benny Prasad made the

audience misty eyed with tales of his awe-inspiring journey and tryst with life, his struggle against all oddswhen he decided to hope against hope and embark on a glorious journey in the field of music. The music

piece he played, after mastering it with 2000 hours of unfaltering perseverance, lashed out at the very soul of

human emotions. Kiran Bedi of course, righteous as ever, encouraged the crowd to exercise the right to vote

in the upcoming elections. Her valour and will to fight for the right thing inspite of obstacles was extremely

motivating.

At the end, the curator, Sarthak Pranit himself left the audience doubling over with laughter, with his promise

of bringing 'much better speakers' next year. The speakers, of course, joined the audience in laughing heartily

at the gaffe. A welcome change from last year's TEDx was the charismatic host for the event, who managed

to keep the entire proceedings relatively scandal-free compared to last time's irrepressible anchor.

When asked about the event, the curator Sarthak said "My idea was to execute something unique and simple,yet something that the engineering mass can relate to. I have a brilliant and extremely talented team backing

me up, and their hard work bears testimony to the success of 'This is my story'"

14



Elections

Off Campus news

ELECTIONSThe murkiness of Indian Politics is hard to undermine and Uttar Pradesh, where in the

current assembly, 139 of 404 legislators are free while facing charges, is no exception. And

with elections round the corner, it is also India's biggest political prize. In 2007 caste politics

and a large Dalit population were enough to propel Mayawati and The Bahujan Samaj Partyinto an absolute majority with 206 seats- an unlikely scenario for any of the four contenders

this time round.

In fact due to lack of one primary issue, it is very hard to get a sense of how things mightturn out. The BSPit seems is once more relying on the political muscle of their leaders' Dalitsupporters- a sound strategy considering that voters have always felt more secure if theyelect someone of their own caste or religion. And despite recent signs of progress, UP is stillone of the poorest states in India. Studies show that 8 percent of the world's poorest peoplelive in Uttar Pradesh which is precisely the point the opposition parties are bringing up timeand again.

For Congress, gaining a foothold in UP, a state they lost 22 years ago, represents the

possibility of breaking free of the shackles of coalition politics and as such they seem tohave thrown in the kitchen sink with Rahul Gandhi, nicknamed Yuvraj by the opposing

politicians, going all out to woo Mayawati's Dalit supporters who feel hard done by their

leader, and the Muslim demogra hic they lost to the Samajwadi Party years ago.

The SPitself is no laughing stock. In fact opinion polls show them being the most likely party

to be heading a coalition government come March 6. It now Tends to a youngerdemographic after appointing 38 year old Akhilesh Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav, asUP party president with a promise to expand education. The BJPdo not seem to be serious

contenders this time round, but are still going to be a factor if and when a coalitiongovernment is formed.

The elections results for UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand will be announced onMarch 6. Goa seems to be going in favour of the INC-NCPcoalition with BJPreprising its role

as the opposition party. Current ruling party in Punjab, the ShiromaniAkali Dal-BJPcoalition,

might see Sukhbir Singh Badal, the son of the Incumbent Chief Minister succeed his fatheras the CM (which if anyone is keeping count is the third instance of an apparent heir to the

throne taking his rightful place in the current round of "democratic elections"). Manipur andUttarakhand again see INC and BJPsquaring off against each other.

-, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .

15



BITS Fe, Quick Quiz

BITS FC

The BITSF( has been a major topic of discussionin the last year because of its commendable

performance. The BITS Football Team has been

undefeated for almost a year now and they've

also entered the Second Division of Goa League.

Everything seems to be falling in place for themand everyone has high expectations for Spree '12.

The players attribute their success to their

attitude and the fact that they've really played as

a team. They also give credit to the captain for his

insightful management. The best thing is the

absence of politics from the equation. The playersare judged solely on the basis of merit.

However, they feel that due support and encouragement from the college management is

lacking. They could always use a coach or better facilities or for that matter any amount of

genuine interest and appreciation from the management. Not just the management and the

(SA but the college students too haven't shown them the requisite level of enthusiasm. There're

hardly any spectators from our college to cheer and boost the team during the matches. There

are a few people who're regular spectators but nobody else ever turns up for the fixtures played

both inside and outside the campus. They say that the crowd sometimes can play an important

role in setting the morale and deciding the outcome of a close match.

Taking into account all that has been going on, right now, the only thing that could negatively

impact their performance is their complacency with it. They've been doing really well but there's

still a lot more out there that is theirs to achieve.

In the end is a well deserved hats off and also a sincere all the best to the BITSFe.

---------------------------

QUICK QUIZ

1. Rick Barry is considered to be one of the greatest small forwards in NBA history. Despite hisexceptional playing skills, he was also known for his extremely unorthodox but effective way of

2~RecentTy Queen Elizabeth celebrated her diamond jubilee as queen. Name the only otherBritish monarch to have also done so.3. After the release of a particular movie in 2006, this item has been used multiple times in vari-ous protests. It was used to express the view that whatever they were protesting against was an'epic fail'. What is this item?4. Despite producing more than 2000 artworks in his lifetime, this man sold only 1 painting the'Red Vineyard at Aries'. Who is this iconic painter?5. This company initially started as a company which made playing cards before branching outinto several other areas such as taxi services, motels, TV network, fast food and finally into thetoy industry. Which company?

Courtesy: Maamz, Quiz Club

opualulN'S 4609 ul?AluaJulA'v>jSI?Wsa>jMI?:IAn9'£ I?poPlA uaan{rl (papuaurepun uraqi ious aH) SMOJ4laaJ:J6Ullo04S . L

:SJaMSUV

16



QUARK SURVEY

BITSHerald conducted a survey to gauge the success of the fest. Presented here, are the results

D o y o u b e li ev e t ha t t his Q u a rk w a s b e tt er t ha n t he l as t o n e?Rate the nights on a scale of 1 to 5- The Mentalist and I llusionist , Arvind Jayshankar110

~ N ol A pp licab le (60 (

88

66

Pathetic Awesome

D id y o u t ak e p a rt i n a n y e ve n tl wo r ks ho p ? ( T oo k p a rt a n d n o t o r g a ni se d)

N o ( 17 9 )

Rate the nights on a scale of 1 to5 -Faridkot125

235

Pathetic Awesome

Ratethe nights on a scale of 1 to 5- 3DMapping and Fireworks1

Pathetic Awesome None of themwere Absolutely.All of them

the worskhops line up on a scale of 1to 5.

Ratethe BITSHeraldQuark Issue outof 10

Pathetic Awesome

17



QUARK SURVEY

Are you of the opinion that we have too many events inQuark? Dowe do enough for our sponsors?

No [150[------,:=>

Olher[16J

No[276J~

[83J

Could the scheduling of events have been any better?

.-__C--Asw ch an ges V IO L

No

Were the workshops over-priced considering what they offered?

No [97J

[7J

Ye s [239]

Was Quark adequately technical?

No (156)----=

Is there enough being done on campus to promote technical activity?

Olher(14)

No (292j

Rate the Quark tees on a scale of 1 to 5.1 Are you satisfied with the campus' new LOAP system?

r----Oher(143J

No (12.lj

(92J

Pathetic Awesome

bits herald post quark 2012 issue

Documents